Six companies involved with the UNAIDS- and WHO-sponsored Accelerating Access program have said they would increase the antiretroviral drug supply to Africa, "acknowledg[ing] that current efforts only scratched the surface" of the continent's epidemic, Reuters reports.
Equity in Health
drug companies say they will increase arv supply
EU TRIES TO BREAK WTO MEDICINES DEADLOCK
The EU has launched an initiative to break the current WTO deadlock on developing countries' access to affordable medicines. WTO members failed to meet the end of a 2002 deadline to find a solution for developing countries without manufacturing capacities, namely given the disagreement over the disease coverage. In a letter addressed to all WTO Trade Ministers, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy proposes a multilateral solution which is workable, sustainable and legally secure, based both on the Doha mandate and on the chair's compromise text of 16 December 2002.
JOINT EFFORT CAN TURN PANDEMIC AROUND - LEWIS
The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa could be turned around, despite the devastating toll on human lives, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis, says. Lewis noted that defeating the disease would require a combination of political will and resources.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29540
Major Humanitarian Agencies issue urgent appeal for southern africa
The United Nations and several major humanitarian agencies have issued a plea to the international community to fund relief efforts for the "dual human tragedy" of HIV/AIDS and famine in Southern Africa, Agence France-Presse reports. A U.N. appeal for $611 million in aid for Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe has reached 58% of its target, Elizabeth Byrs, spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said.
us senate Proposes $900M in Emergency Relief for Africa
Senate Democrats have introduced the Africa Famine Relief Act, which would provide $900 million in emergency relief for Africa, including $600 million in food aid, $200 million in disaster assistance and $100 million in HIV/AIDS-related aid, the Associated Press reports.
US-Based Aids Group Plans to File Complaint Against Glaxo in SA
US-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation is planning to file a complaint with the SA Competition Commission against pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, in a bid to widen access to AIDS drugs. The attorney representing the foundation in SA, Musa Ntsibande of law firm Strauss Daly, said that the complaint would argue that Glaxo abused its dominant market position in contravention of the Competition Act, and was engaging in excessive pricing of its drugs to the detriment of the consumer.
Activists "frustrated" by delays in WTO talks
World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks held late last year failed to resolve the issue of access to generic medicines in developing countries after the United States blocked an agreement on granting easier access to the drugs. "Its a tragedy that there is no solution after one year of talks ... millions of people have died from [infectious] diseases this year. The rich countries don't realise how much this has affected poor countries," head of international affairs for treatment lobby group Act-Up Paris, Gaëlle Krikorian, told PlusNews.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29530
Effort to Fight HIV/AIDS and Famine in Africa Should Focus on Women, Annan Says
In order to "save Africa from two catastrophes" - the HIV/AIDS epidemic and famine - "we would do well to focus on saving Africa's women," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan writes in a New York Times opinion piece. Women account for 50% of the individuals infected with HIV worldwide and 58% of the HIV-positive people in Africa. According to Annan, AIDS is "attacking the capacity of these countries to resist famine by eroding those mechanisms that enable populations to fight back - the coping abilities provided by women."
Failure to tackle AIDS puts millions at risk of starvation
Millions of people are on the brink of starvation in southern Africa, warns the United Nations this week, partly because attempts to limit the spread of HIV have failed. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has left millions of agricultural workers dead, land unfarmed, and families with no money to buy food, it says, and unless concerted action is taken now to stem the spread of AIDS many other regions could face similar crises in the future. According to a report by UNAIDS (the joint UN programme on HIV and AIDS) and the World Health Organisation, nearly one in five adults in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe has HIV or AIDS, and 14 million people in the region are threatened by famine.
GLOBAL COALITION AIMS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO HIV/AIDS TREATMENT
A new international coalition - the International HIV Treatment Access Coalition (ITAC) - has been launched to boost efforts to provide access to antiretroviral drugs to the growing number of people with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries who need them. According to WHO/UNAIDS estimates presented in a report launched by the Coalition, millions of people living with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries face death within the coming years unless they can access these life-saving medicines.